Rectifier: In Bloom, Adventure in the Making

Written by Devil Darling, Writer, Otome Enthusiast, Horror Lover

Published on September 18, 2024

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing the founder of Meant to Bee Studios to learn more about the inspiration and development behind their latest project, Rectifier: In Bloom. The studio, run primarily by one dedicated developer, began with a humble yet determined origin — born from a desire to take creative control after years of contract work for other indie studios.

Meant to Bee Background and Origin

As always, we were curious about the story behind the studio. The founder and lead developer began as a contract writer for various indie studios before deciding to take the leap into creating their own games. As to be expected, running a solo operation has come with its fair share of challenges.

“Pretty much every challenge you can face as a small indie studio, though I’d chalk up every challenge to also being a valuable lesson. Growing pains, if you will.“

“The biggest one is working alone. I think some people view my studio as something run by many, when in truth it is run by one. I create unique teams of people per game, with a few members rolling over. I believe this is a strength, it allows me to have a single creative vision while also getting to meet so many different people. But it is also my weakness, as I enjoy bouncing off energy with others, and adore collaborative work.”

“I do plan to have permanent members in Meant to Bee Studios, but I need them to be as passionate as I am about my work, and the drive to carry it out. Passion is everywhere, but many lack the drive. Understandably so, because it is so difficult.”

Choice System

Most otome games have a choice system, you could even say that it’s a hallmark of Visual Novel games. But that doesn’t mean it’s always approached the same way. Rectifier: In Bloom’s three-color personality choice system, is a departure from the typical binary personality systems seen in many games.

I think personality systems are pretty common in indie games, I’ve seen it done in a handful of indie otome for instance, but what separates ours from the ones I’ve seen is the fact that ours changes the dynamic of your specific relationship with your love interest without it being lesser.

It was important to me that Rectifier both In Bloom, its future side games, and the main game, all don’t have bad endings/choices. For me personally, I find it stressful and want the journey you go on to put fun first.

The 3 personality system is one of those choices, no matter who you are, your love interest will still fall for you, just in a different way adding replayability to a single route, meaning in theory there are 21 unique experiences for the player to engage with, not counting our grey choices that aren’t dependant on personality.

Writing and Inspiration Behind Rectifier

When asked if they could tell us more about the writing process behind the game, the founder brought some interesting insight. Rectifier was written to be a blend of shounen anime-inspired plotlines with romantic elements, merging two of the developer’s favorite genres.

“For me, the writing process is basically a shounen anime dating sim. Meaning the plot is very shounen anime/manga inspired, as those are one of my favorite forms of media, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, and Hunter x Hunter to name a few. But with romance as a central focus. Dating sims, especially the mobile otome like Shall We Date Games: Ninja Love, My Sweet Prince, Destiny Ninja etc… were some of my favorite games to play growing up and the plot lines were pretty lackluster. So I wanted to marry the two loves I had.”

The seven love interests, loosely based on the seven deadly sins, offer a variety of personalities, from “old men” to “yandere priest twinks,” ensuring there’s someone for every player’s taste. Percy, one of the love interests, stands out as a divisive character, adored by some and disliked by others. Personally, I fall into the “love him” camp, mostly because of his antics. And I’m not the only one that shares this opinion as he’s the founder’s favorite as well.

“In regards to who my favorite is to write, I have to go with Percy. Percy is the only love interest that wasn’t built to be mostly likable, he’s very divisive both within the context of the game and among players (and writers lol). You either love him or hate him, and he makes a good case for both. He’s very flirtatious, unabashed, and unhinged. So every scene he is in adds a certain type of tension to the game, whether that be arguing with your companions or trying to seduce you the player.”

My last question when it comes to the story was how Rectifier: In Bloom would tie into the yet-to-be-released Rectifier game which takes place in the same setting and features the same characters.

“They are very tightly tied together. In Bloom is but a slice of what you can expect from the full game. They function in the exact same way, though Rectifier In Bloom has less plot overall. The biggest being that the antagonist is completely absent from the game (unless you count Percy, lol). The main game is a high fantasy, sprawling adventure, that has a lot of lore and takes time to introduce each guy in a unique way on each route. I imagine the main game will easily be 100k word routes. Meaning it’s basically a fantasy epic, but is a necessary word length, as there is so much of the story to explore.”

“The main game has big story choices, an antagonist, a world on the brink of war, a slow burn romance with each love interest, multiple intimate scenes (either pure sex or some other form of intimacy if you choose to opt out), and many more.”

Community and Feedback

We were eager to find out how the community reacted to Rectifier: In Bloom and if their feedback aligned with the developer’s expectations. From what the dev shared, it’s clear that the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“Without sounding cocky, I had a strong feeling Rectifier would resonate with a lot of people, mainly because it was my first dating sim, otome adjacent, choice-based game. Most of my games are almost the complete opposite- kinetic, queer, and linear. However, even though I expected more people to play it than my others, I hadn’t expected the sheer love for it to come way before the game was even released, and as it released kept regenerating hype for the new routes, and by extension the main game.”

“The most shocking is that people consider Rectifier: In Bloom to be short, despite it being nearly 100k total. I guess that goes to show that when you’re having fun time flies. It bodes well for the main game which will be massive.”

Future Plans and Development

Looking ahead, Rectifier will build upon the foundation laid by In Bloom, introducing bigger story choices, a high fantasy plot, slow-burn romance, and intimate scenes that let players connect deeply with the love interests. The side game, In Bloom, served as a standalone experience that helped generate interest in the larger project while giving players a taste of the world Meant to Bee Studios is building.

Exclusive Content and Final Thoughts

When we asked the lead developer if they’d be willing to share some exclusive content with us, they were nice enough to send us this beautifully laid-out map of the world. It’s still a work in progress but gives a good idea of the locations of the world and where the characters will travel.

As for final thoughts, the lead developer wanted to make clear that while Rectifier may center around male love interests, Meant to Bee Studios is a queer-first, romance-based studio. The founder’s goal is to create inclusive stories with diverse characters, representing a range of gender expressions, sexualities, and personal experiences. Themes like race, class, disability, and queer identity are woven into the narrative, making the characters feel real and relatable. The overarching message? You are loved for who you are, imperfections and all.

“I will say, though I like making otome games/dating sims. That our games, and our studio are first and foremost a romance based studio, specifically a queer one. Though we have only male love interests for Rectifier, it was because it was originally intended to be a yaoi/bl game.”

“After working on the game for a while, it didn’t make much sense for the player character to look like one specific gender, especially since Nephelim/Angels are shape shifting, alien, godly creatures who don’t adhere to gender norms anyway. It’s all aesthetics.”

As we look ahead to the future of Rectifier and beyond, it’s clear that Meant to Bee Studios is just getting started. With an ambitious main game in the works, Rectifier: In Bloom has already shown the incredible potential of this fantasy world. We can’t wait to see what Meant to Bee will deliver in the future. You can find and support the team, you can find Rectifier: In Bloom here.